31 Days Of Santa: 4th Day- Ub Iwerks

Ha, sorta been losing at least an extra hour of sleep doing these, so last night after work, I decided to take an hour nap before I tackled today's Santa.

That hour lasted 10. Hours.

Had skating practice today, then went and helped some of the derby members wrap gifts in the mall, and by the time I got home and comfortable, it was 5pm- NICE.


Without further stalling, here is Day 4's Santa, done in the style of Walt Disney's right hand man for many years, Ub Iwerks. (Note: the coloring's more stylized after published Mickey Mouse illustrated stories, rather than the b&w or fully colored cartoons). IF you didn't know, Ub and Walt worked at the same design studio together in Kansas City and were tight like bros for a number of years. Walt, displaying his savvy entrepeneurial skills early, designated Iwerks as his main man with the magic hand.

Together they went on the road from Kansas City to California. They worked for an animation studio and created Oswald The Lucky Rabbit, a precursor to that familiar, cute, black rodent. Walt basically gave a friendly metaphorical gesture involving a middle finger to 'working for the man', and went off on his own. Ub joined Walt shortly after, when Ub, on some free time, created a new, copyright-free rodent that Disney apparently ha-zaa'ed at and proudly pronounced, 'This character will make me, er, US, kings of the WORLD!' So Walt creates a new company, and employs Ub Iwerks as the main animator, probably the ONLY animator.

Employed with a fist of steel, that is. Apparently Walt worked Ub's pencil down to a stub, and after creating Mickey Mouse and some episodes, Ub quit. Friendship ruined. Ub started his own company, created a couple new characters that amounted to not half the popularity that MM had, walked around Hollywood with his hands in his pockets for some years, until finally coming back to the man with the master plan. Disney I assume asked for his feet to be kissed, and after loyalty had been once again established, allowed Ub to come back and work for him.

There's a lot more, but I prefer to move onto the next Santa then go on babbling with knowledge I picked up from Wikipedia and distant memories from my History Of Comics And Cartoons class at school.

Medium- ink, with dyes, digital for old paper texture.

31 Days Of Santa: 3rd Day- Dr. Seuss

Pen & Ink plus dyes. Having not worked with dyes in quite a spell, I got a lil' dark in my 'aged paper' effect. My inks seem a little thicker as well, but overall, at least it doesn't look more like a Grandma Moses.

Tidbit of information- Mr. Geisel, as his friends call 'im, was a devout Lutheran. I thought he was Jewish. Oh well- at least he liked Jewish people. Unlike Luther... who so happened to be the father of Lutheranism. But Seuss wasn't too fond of the Japanese. Until after the war... then he felt bad for what he said about them during WWII, and made up for it.

Ahem.

31 Days Of Santa: 2nd Day- Sanrio

I can tell already that Wednesdays will be that one day to squeeze art in the best of my ability. Roller Derby practice is on Wednesdays and Sundays; Wednesdays after work will most assuredly be reserved for the easier styles.

SUCH AS THIS ONE! Sanrio (Hello Kitty brand)! OK, you got me- it may not necessarily represent one particular artist, but the branding is iconic enough that I felt I could run with it. Plus it's my blog- I do what I want. Because it's my blog, (nyehh!).

Is it Hello Kitty in a Santa outfit? I don't know, but by golly, he (or she?) sure does prefer you stare at that candy cane instead of wondering what's inside the bag.

31 Days Of Santa: 1st Day- Me/ Barry Moser

FOR THE MERRY MONTH OF DECEMBER, I decided to take a stab at showing you guys a Santa I've created every day, each in a different artist's style, technique, etc. Mind you, it was not even a full day after posting my holiday cheer-filled idea for everyone to see, when 1). I decided to join the local ROLLER DERBY league, thus committing myself to AT LEAST 2 practices a week, (which would alone place a sweat bead on this brow), and 2). a couple freelance gigs decided to surface for added entertainment. Oh, top that with the day jarb. That being said, I will not puss out......... probably not.


We're starting this blog off the self-centered promotional way...

Santa, MY way. Odd, eccentric, makes you wonder how your alcoholic Uncle Wilhelm from Maine is doing on that crabbing boat he purchased this year with his tax return.

Done in scratchboard, which is essentially a board, be it masonite, cardboard, paper, illustration board, etc, with a thin layer of white clay, and topped off with a layer of black ink. Scratch away the black to show the white- sort of like working a negative, but don't be fooled and make a black line into a white line; instead, scratch the white around the black- (get it? Ooh, you're clever!). Scratchboard came about once printing methods became more advanced, and replaced wood/ metal engravings, which were types of block printing. Photographic reproduction was used for scratchboards, expending the issue of a block's shelf life after so many print runs.

Fantastic Four Scratchboard Commissions

At the New York Comic Con a couple months back, I did a Human Torch commission in scratchboard for a super nice and cool couple, nice enough that they contacted m and asked for the remaining Fantastics to go along with him. Aw. I like when people do that :) It's really ... fantastic.

Commissions allow one to throw their own personal touch on established characters. Mucho FUN TIMES!

Santa of all shapes, sizes and styles.

To help fill this blog up, I'm giving myself a sketch-a-day project for the month of December.

31 Santa Clauses in 31 different artists' styles, and I'm open for suggestions.

Shoot a private email, comment here, or anywhere else that I've posted this of your favorite artist whose style you'd like to see emulated. I might do some digital, some tradish, maybe all digital, maybe all tradish- dunno just yet. But give me some idears to think about.

I suspect this will be very tough, but a great experience fer sher.

-Dirkus Malurkis

MID OHIO CON

FINALLY. After 36,565 conventions this year, I'm down to number 36,566, the final convention. MID OHIO CON, Columbus Ohio, November 6 & 7.

Above is a batman commission I did at Mid Ohio. I made a hellboy and a Silver Surfer, too, but alas, the "forget that your camera is right beside you at your bidding' bug bit me once more. The quite gifted Jeremy Sorrell (http://jrs2345.deviantart.com/) hooked me up with a JPG of the Batman sketch I did for him.

Some conventions surprise you, and some go just as you hope and expect. New York was verbs 1 & 2. San Diego- 2 & 3. Pittsburgh, Bmore, Balticon and the York Book & Paper Fair- fall in the Expect Only column.

Mid Ohio, however- and I still don't know exactly why- was a surprise... sort of. I was surprised I didn't make as much business as I'd hoped, and I was surprised at the little amount of traffic my table received. Those are surprises that bring a dropped head. But, there were the other surprises of the happy Dirk kind. I was surprised by how many familiar faces I got to see throughout the weekend, and the warmth of that familiarity made it as much a positive convention experience as any of the other cons I've been at. And I was surprised, despite lackluster sales, how much fun it is for me to share my art with those interested. I never get tired of explaining my processes, talking art with fellow and aspiring illustrators, and chatting, LEARNING from those who decide to speak to me on topics regarding illustrators of yore.

Pittsburgh's my 'home convention' for now- not because I once lived there or really know the area that well, because I honestly know one street, and that's it. It's home because I've been at that con now for at least 5 years in a row now, and most of the organizers know me, are very friendly, and definitely enjoy seeing me return consistently. Right back at 'em.

Bmore's my local con. I've done it a few years now, I tend to gain cool freelance gigs every year, and I've always been able to walk away with a few extra bucks from commissions in the pocket to take home.

San Diego is great, and loads of potential, but way too expensive- travel, food, shipping, table cost- all add up to negative Washingtons for my budget. Someone should fly me out there for free.

New York is San Diego but affordable! Simply put. Totally on the list forever more.

York Book & Paper Fair- the super local, super-out-of-my-element con. I do it for a couple reasons- I love old books and finding old illustrated novels to lust over, it's cheap, and the organizer is a hell of a man to root for.

Gen Con- one and done. If I belong in the gaming book world, it's going to be with a publisher who's willing to take a risk with my black & white scratchboard style. I don't see it happening, unfortunately, and that bugs me a little, but I guess I'm a decade late as color is much less expensive to print now.

Origins- Gen Con with less big publishers, and therefore even smaller pockets. But another nice trip to my Alma mater.

Balticon- the lone sci fi con- cute, cheap, a fascinating experience that can only get better in terms of roping me deeper into the realm of genre fiction, and possibly forcing my participation in either larping or bondage clubs. Both are at equal plausibility at the moment.

I haven't signed up for ANY cons next year yet. I have to really concentrate on being even more frugal than ever before if I'm to pay off the man in 2.5 years, and I want to make sure I'm making good calls as to where I travel. New York, Pittsburgh and Baltimore are lock-ins. Everything else is open on the table for consideration. But next year, I absolutely MUST make room for a good 4 day long hike or road trip. I missed out this year.

Thanks to Brian Kane, Dwayne Todd, Jason Bowser,, Otto, Wallace, Frank Cvetkovic, Joel Jackson, Mike Watson, Ren McKinzie, Dexter Rothchild, Emily Holt, Greg Kissner, Drew Jones, Jeremy Sorrell, & Phil Carter for the nostalgia.

PS- Michael Berryman is such a nice guy!